Marriage Year Three | Strouse House Chronicles: Part TWELVE
Year three of marriage was a relatively calm one for the Strouse House, but if you've been following along then you know we don't do things simply...
In 2014, we decided we were ready to purchase our first house. Our plan is always "let's just dip our toes in and we'll take our time making a decision". That plan never works and it's how we ended up with things like a 75 lbs german shepherd and a fluff ball named Fitz. We met with a realtor who also happened to be a family friend and who's daughter Allie had babysit basically since birth! (Page Booth - if you are in the RVA area) who explained the process and started us down the path to ownership. We looked at tons of houses both in person and online and within a few weeks we were making an offer. We were spending Brad's birthday weekend in Ohio with his family while signing deal memo's, approving negotiation points, and writing heartfelt letters to the sellers with pictures of our little family and the reasons why they should trust us with their house. There was one competing offer, but they went with us! We were so excited and also super nervous. One more step towards adulthood!!
With our new backyard, we decided we wanted Dexter to have a doggie sibling to run and play with. We contacted our favorite rescue organization Southeast German Shepherd Rescue and before long we were driving to Virginia Beach to visit "Bridgette", a German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois rescue from GA. We took Dexter along with us to the meet and great and within minutes they were chasing each other in the backyard and rolling in the mud. Our new family member "Cricket" was very loving, eager to please, and a champion running partner. We both love to run and despite our best efforts we were never able to wear her out! Unfortunately after a few months, extensive training, and some tearful discussion we had to return Cricket to the rescue organization where they could place her in a one-dog family environment.
While we typically take a trip to celebrate our anniversary, this year with the expenses involved in buying a house and the fact that every room was still full of boxes, we decided to skip the trip. We did get our traditional couples massage (every year since our honeymoon) and went to a nice dinner at Can Can's in Carytown. We were quickly adjusting to this adult thing! We did get a short surpise pit-stop in for Allie's birthday in early December. On the way home from Thanksgiving with her family in Huntsville, we made a detour to Chapel Hill for an overnight getaway. We walked through UNC's campus, sampled 20+ local beers at a few different local breweries, and spent the night at the Siena Hotel. The room was gorgeous and the hotel restaurant had amazing food...and very small portions. Before leaving town we had to stop at Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen. Everyone had raved about their massive and tasty chicken biscuits and man it did not disappoint! The biscuits were the size of our hands and crumbly. The chicken was perfectly fried and sweet. We left Chapel Hill with full bellies and a smile on our faces.
We are almost caught up to present day! Next week we dive into year four of marriage!
Thanks for reading!
Miss any of the #StrouseHouseChronicles? Click the hashtag to catch up!